Hawaii Law Lets Police Have Sex With Prostitutes

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMARCH 20, 2014, 9:17 P.M. E.D.T.

HONOLULU
— Honolulu police officers have urged lawmakers to keep an exemption in
state law that allows undercover officers to have sex with prostitutes
during investigations, touching off a heated debate.

Authorities
say they need the legal protection to catch lawbreakers in the act.
Critics, including human trafficking experts and other police, say it's
unnecessary and could further victimize sex workers, many of whom have
been forced into the trade.

Police
haven't said how often — or even if — they use the provision. And when
they asked legislators to preserve it, they made assurances that
internal policies and procedures are in place to prevent officers from
taking advantage of it.

But expert Derek Marsh says the exemption is "antiquated at best" and that police can easily do without it.

"It
doesn't help your case, and at worst you further traumatize someone.
And do you think he or she is going to trust a cop again?" asked Marsh,
who trains California police in best practices on human trafficking
cases and twice has testified to Congress about the issue.

A
Hawaii bill cracking down on prostitution (HB 1926) was originally
written to scrap the sex exemption for officers on duty. It was amended
to restore that protection after police testimony. The revised proposal
passed the state House and will go before a Senate committee Friday.

It's
not immediately clear whether similar provisions are in place elsewhere
as state law or department policy. But advocates were shocked that
Hawaii exempts police from its prostitution laws, suggesting it's an
invitation for misconduct.

"Police
abuse is part of the life of prostitution," said Melissa Farley, the
executive director of the San Francisco-based group Prostitution
Research and Education. Farley said that in places without such police
protections "women who have escaped prostitution" commonly report being
coerced into giving police sexual favors to keep from being arrested.

The Hawaii bill aims to ratchet up penalties on johns and pimps. Selling sex would remain a petty misdemeanor.

During recent testimony, Honolulu police said the sex exemption protects investigations and should remain in place.

"The
procedures and conduct of the undercover officers are regulated by
department rules, which by nature have to be confidential," Honolulu
Police Maj. Jerry Inouye told the House Judiciary Committee. "Because if
prostitution suspects, pimps and other people are privy to that
information, they're going to know exactly how far the undercover
officer can and cannot go."

Democratic state Rep. Karl Rhoads, the committee chairman, said police testimony convinced him to amend the proposal.

"It's
a really murky area," said Rhoads, who represents a district that
includes Honolulu's Chinatown, a longstanding epicenter of street
prostitution. "I was reluctant to interfere in something that they face
all the time. If they think it's necessary to not have it in the
statute, this is one area where I did defer to them and say, 'I hope
you're not having sex with prostitutes.'"

Critics
say the police perspective is off base. Lauren Hersh, a former
prosecuting attorney who runs the global trafficking program of the
women's advocacy group Equality Now, said the risk of re-victimizing a
sex worker, who may already have been trafficked, should make sex during
an investigation off-limits.

"I
can understand you're in a drug den, and you have a gun to your head
and someone says 'snort this,'" Hersh said, acknowledging the gray areas
associated with undercover police work. But the sex exemption in Hawaii
is "so dissimilar from that circumstance on so many levels."

There
have been instances of police being accused of victimizing sex workers
across the nation. In Philadelphia, a former officer is on trial facing
charges of raping two prostitutes after forcing them at gunpoint to take
narcotics. A former West Sacramento, Calif., officer is awaiting
sentencing after being found guilty of raping prostitutes in his police
cruiser while on patrol. And last year in Massachusetts, a former police
officer pleaded guilty to extorting sex from prostitutes he threatened
with arrest.

Rhoads said he knew no reason to suspect Honolulu police are out of line.

"All
allegations of misconduct are investigated and the appropriate
disciplinary action taken," said Michelle Yu, Honolulu police
spokeswoman, in an email.

It's
not clear, however, what the punishment would be. The disclosure laws
for police misconduct in Hawaii make it impossible to know if an on-duty
officer had faced discipline or accusations of having sex with a
prostitute.

Officers
who investigate prostitution haven't been accused of sexual wrongdoing
in recent memory, Yu said. A parole officer in 2011 was fired after
being convicted of sexual assault against a prostitute, she said.

Skeptics,
such as Roger Young, a retired special agent who for more than 20 years
worked sex crimes for the FBI from Las Vegas and has trained vice
squads around the country, remain unconvinced.

Young
said Thursday, "I don't know of any state or federal law that allows
any law enforcement officer undercover to penetrate or do what this law
is allowing."

I watch COPS more than most and I recently saw an episode filmed in Vegas, it was a perambulation(tee hee) sting episode. I swear the undercover forgot the cameras were there, it took him forever to give the code word. Once he finally gave the word two officers came in there and told her she can put her clothes on. The lady bent down and the officer was so close to her I swear she had to rub up against him.The kicker>They searched her as she was bending over the bed!

I watch COPS more than most and I recently saw an episode filmed in Vegas, it was a perambulation(tee hee) sting episode. I swear the undercover forgot the cameras were there, it took him forever to give the code word. Once he finally gave the word two officers came in there and told her she can put her clothes on. The lady bent down and the officer was so close to her I swear she had to rub up against him.The kicker>They searched her as she was bending over the bed!

So while this is law in Hawaii I'm sure it's done everyday day.

i was sure prosotution was LEGAL in vegas people walk around with there A$$ out on the street! in Day light

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